Announcing New Meal Plans!

[Joseph P Murphy]

Hello undergraduates!

After nearly a year of surveys, feedback, and collaboration between your
student government and MIT administration, MIT will have a new set of meal
plans for the 2018-2019 school year.  Without further ado, the
aforementioned plans are below.

Mandatory Plans for Dining Dorm Residents**

Annual Cost 2018-19

Annual # of Meals*

Annual Dining Dollars

Minimum Commitment for

Any 19 Per Week + $50 Dining Dollars

$5,620

597

$100

Any 14 Per Week + $175 Dining Dollars

$5,360

440

$350

First Years

260 Meals + $225 Dining Dollars

$5,620

520

$450

190 Meals + $250 Dining Dollars

$5,360

380

$500

First Years

125 Meals + $290 Dining Dollars

$3,900

250

$580

All Upperclass

Voluntary Plans for non-Dining Dorm Residents**

Annual Cost 2018-19

Annual # of Meals*

Annual Dining Dollars

90 Meals + $225 Dining Dollars

$2,880

180

$450

60 Meals + $310 Dining Dollars

$2,260

120

$620

30 Meals + $407 Dining Dollars

$1,670

60

$814

45 Meals + $215 Dining Dollars

$1,670

90

$430

*based on 15.71 weeks per semester

**block meal plans are named by semesterly allocation

FAQ

What are "Dining Dollars" and where can I use them?

Dining dollars will initially be valid in all house dining and most
on-campus venues.  (Stay tuned for more locations becoming available!)  Due
to the economics of upfront commitment, each meal plan is able to come with
approximately 5% more dining dollars than what would actually translate to
cash.  Many other college campuses have a similar system, and thus if it
helps, our Dining Dollars should be pretty similar to those other colleges'
systems.

Where are the “on-campus” dining locations?

There's a list on the MIT App under the "Dining" section.  All of the
locations on that list should accept dining dollars.

Are Dining Dollars and TechCash the same thing and/or interchangeable?

Unfortunately, no.  TechCash being a fully liquid system (students can load
and reload as much as they want whenever) serves as a slightly different
purpose than Dining Dollars.  Dining Dollars are somewhat like a bulk
discount on gift cards to the on-campus dining venues.  They only work like
they do because they are not liquid, meaning they expire at the end of the
academic year and are not eligible for withdrawal.

What are the "Voluntary Plans" and can I sign up for one?

The voluntary plans were specifically created for people in traditionally
cook-for-yourself communities whether that be CFY dorms or FSILG's who may
want a meal in a dining hall or other on-campus location every so often.
These plans are below the minimum required for anyone in a dining dorm to
be eligible, but anyone outside of dining dorms are welcome to sign up.

If I live in a cook-for-yourself community can I sign up for plans for
dining dorm residents?

Yes, if you do not live in a dining dorm, you are free to sign up for any
meal plan offered, including those intended for dining dorm residents.

Why are there two plans marked as first year minimums?

Since there are now two tracks, weekly and semesterly, it followed
logically that freshman should have options between the two tracks.  Thus
freshman can choose any plan on either track above the minimum. Secondly
with regard to freshman, we were able to level out the minimum requirements
between the dorms to make the choice of community less about meal plan
preferences.

Why did the prices go up?

I could try to answer this, but there is actually a much better explanation
written up in an FAQ by DSL here
<http://studentlife.mit.edu/sites/default/files/RateIncreaseFAQ_0.pdf>.

Where did the "Basic" meal plans go?

One of the foremost conclusions from the data gathered so far about
on-campus dining is that we lack access to food when and where we need it.
This will be more fully addressed another day, but for now that meant
retiring the "Basic" designations.

How will swipes work?

Since there are no longer Basic meal plans that means everything from the
"Any 45" to the "Any 19" can access all dorm cafeterias at any time that
they are open and that you have a swipe remaining.  ***Swipes now work
everywhere all the time.***  Swipes are now so simple that even a Harvard
student could figure them out. (just kidding, our esteemed colleges up the
road could of course figure it out)

Where did the Any 12 go?

In every great victory there are some losses, one of which in this battle
was the Any 12.  In an effort to simplify the plan structure and give the
freshman two options, the Any 12 was not carried forward into this plan
structure.  I know I will miss the Any 12 as I've been on it for nearly two
years, but the gains in this system substantially outweigh the costs. If
you are comfortable on a plan like the Any 12, I would encourage you to
take a harder look at the Any 125 plan as it offers a deceptively complete
package and the associated Dining Dollars could more than make up the three
meals a week for me.

How were these meal plans developed?

Starting late last spring, directly after the big dining survey, MIT hired
a consultant to take a deep dive into the state of campus dining.  Some of
those insights led into discussion between administration, DormCon, and the
UA about what new meal plans might look like. These discussions continued
through the fall with the House Dining Committee, a monthly meeting of all
the dorm dining chairs.  Finally they were finalized several weeks ago, and
the gears were set in motion to make these happen for next semester. This
was an especially important moment to take a look at these as MIT is
currently in the process of selecting its next campus dining vendor, and
thus the plans are easier to change when the contract is being renegotiated
anyway.

How do I get involved?

Want to join the conversation about upcoming changes to dining? We’d love
to have you! You can join this mailing list
<https://groups.mit.edu/webmoira/list/dormcon-dining-announce> we’ll be
using to send out updates and get feedback. You can also contact me and my
co-chair, Lily Dove, directly at dormcon-dining-chair at mit.edu. DormCon has open
meetings regularly <http://web.mit.edu/dormcon/>, as does the UA, attended
by your dorm president/living group representatives. Please feel free to
contact your living community's government, the DormCon dining chairs (us),
or the UA with your comments, questions, or concerns.

*A special thanks*

These plans couldn't have happened without the tireless effort from
administrators like Peter Cummings and the rest of the team working the
numbers to make them as tractable for everyone as possible.  Despite having
larger fish to fry, he and other members of the DSL team took many hours
out of their day throughout the semester to do everything from estimating
costs, talking to other administrators, and importantly, meeting with Lily,
myself, and the other members of the House Dining Committee to get
feedback.  While I am here announcing it to you, he was the one making it
happen day in and day out.

Further questions? Visit DSL's website
<https://studentlife.mit.edu/dining/residential-dining/meal-plans/new-2018-19-meal-plans>
or email foodstuff at mit.edu for more details.

Joseph Murphy

Dormitory Council Dining Chair

MIT | Class of 2019

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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